Cronje, who was one of several drivers tested by Nissan Motorsport to fill the gap left by the departure from the team of Gary Formato, will be making his first appearance in a national production car race since 2001.
The 28-year-old brings a lot of racing experience to the team. Like many top drivers, he has a karting background and is a former winner of the Rotax Max World Finals (in Puerto Rico in 2001). That same year won the SA 125cc kart championship and contested class B of the SA Production Car Championship in a Honda Ballade V-Tec. He led the championship with three rounds remaining, but an appendix operation caused him to miss a meeting and he ended the season as runner-up.
He has experience in Formula Ford, both in South Africa and Great Britain, and was a works off road driver for Toyota in 2004 and 2005. Last year he contested the Euro 3000 Series (European Formula 3000) with the Auto Sport team, participated in several GP2 tests and was reserve driver for A1 Team South Africa in the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport.
“This is a big opportunity for me,” said Cronje. “While I have been concentrating recently on trying to secure a regular drive in international single seater racing, I have always had an eye on the national production car championship. This is where the cream of SA’s circuit racers is competing and I’m looking forward to mixing it with some of my old rivals.”
Glyn Hall, general manager of Nissan Motorsport said: “We’re very pleased to obtain Gavin’s services for the PE round of the championship. We’ll see how things go and then make a decision regarding the remainder of the season. Gavin had a very good test at Zwartkops Raceway and he brings with him a lot of experience. I’m confident he will acquit himself well at Aldo Scribante this weekend.”
